Packing-case.



No. 645,2l4. Patented Mar. I3, 1900; n. J. PBINS.

PACKING CASE.

(Application filed. Sept. 25, 1899.1

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

RAPHAEL J. PBINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PACKING-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,214, dated March 13, 1900.

Application filed September 25, 1899. Serial No. 731,576. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAPHAEL J. PRINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Packing-Gases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in packing-cases; and its object is to provide a suitable case of this character in which the handle or handpiece by which it is carried acts also as a lock or catch to hold and retain the cover or top of the case in place.

With this object in view the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts as shown in the drawings forming a part of this specification and as hereinafter specifically pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a case embodying my invention and showing one form of handle which may be employed. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same, showing the case in its closed position when the handle acts as a lock to retain the top or cover in position. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the position of the parts in the operation of opening or closing the case, the open position of the cover being illustrated in dotted lines. Figs. 4 and 5 are views of modifications showing other and different forms of handles that may be employed.

In the drawings the reference-letterA indicates the body of the case, which may be of any suitable material and is preferably in the form of an open-topped box composed of a bottom a, side walls a a and end walls a One of the side walls a is provided with a suitable handle 0, which may be of any form and design suitable to accomplish the purposes for which it is intended. I prefer to pivot or hinge the side wall a, that carries this handle, to the bottom of the case, so that when the top is thrown back to the open position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 this side wall may also be thrown back or down to provide more ready access to the interior of the case. The top or closure B is hinged to the top edge of the opposite side-wall a and consists of the cover b, corresponding to the bottom a, the closing-flap b, and the wings 19 When the closure is in position to close the case, the parts are in the relation shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and in order to provide a si1nple and efficient means of retaining them in this position I locate the handle 0 on the side a within the area covered by the flap b and provide the fiap with a slot or recess b through which the handle may easily and readily be passed, as shown in these figures. To accomplish this result, I make the handle of such form that it may readily be manipulated to pass into or out of the recess of the flap. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I prefer to constitute the handle of a flexible piece of material in the form of a strap, connected at its ends through the side a and having sufficient spring to resume the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 after being depressed to allow the case to be opened or closed. In this form of the device when it is desired to open the case the handle is depressed by the fingers and the flap is swung backward and slightly raised to disengage the recess 12 from the handle, when the closure may be thrown back to expose the interior of the case, or, as shown in Fig. 3, the handle may be depressed and the flap forced rearwardly, as indicated;

As before stated, any form of handle that admits of the desired manipulation may be employed. For example, in Fig. 4 I have shown a pivoted bail O, which is secured to the side a by suitable eyes, upon which it turns to accommodate itself to the positions required to enter and leave the recess, and in Fig. 5 I have shown a handle in the form of a chain 0 which may be manipulated in the manner above described.

It will be apparent that the construction and material of the case itself also may be Varied without departing from the spirit of my invention, as the several parts may be integral, being struck from a suitable blank and the edges bound with suitable material, as for smaller classes of receptacles, or the several parts composing the case may be separate and suitably connected, as in the case of larger and heavier receptacles.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A case comprising a body in the form of an In testimonyvwhereof I affix my signature open-topped box, one of whose sides is proin the presence of two Witnesses. vided with a handle, and a closure consisting I of a top and a flap, the latter provided with A RAPHAEL PRINS' 5 a closed slot within the area of its body por- \Vitnesses:

tion through which the handle passes as the ROBERT J. CATGHPOLE,

case is opened or closed. I J. MCROBERTS. 

